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We finally got a shredder, can I compost the shredded mail?

 
Riona Abhainn
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Or will the ink hurt us?  I saw another post about this a while back, but there wasn't a definitive answer and I wondered what people are thinking these days?

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Matt McSpadden
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I would probably take out the plastic windows, but the ink should be fine. Many current inks are soy based, and if you get any of the older nasty inks... the plants are not going to take up the heavy metals unless the heavy metals are water soluable... and most heavy metals are not water soluable unless the soil is a certain PH... and if it is at that PH... you are not going to be able to grow things because that PH is so inhospitable to plants.

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Douglas Alpenstock
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I'm not sure. Even though I've opted in for "no junk mail" I still get stuff that has all sorts of promotional crapola that is more plastic than paper. I am not inclined to add that to the composters that feed my soil, and feed me.
 
Anne Miller
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Some folks might make a separate compost pile for that ink stuff and let that pile compost longer maybe?

Sometimes if compost piles can get hot enough all that nasty might be okay.

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Deane Adams
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I shred almost all the junk mail that I get.  Like Matt, I cut or tear out the little window thingy first, I have in the past found some bits of that window material in my finished compost.

I believe that it is correct that most inks today are made with veggie based colors.  If the junk mail has that slick, plastic feel I will not shred that.  Everything else gets fed into the shredder. Old bank statements, financial papers, even the thinner cardboard boxes and food boxes/packages.  So far my worms have not had anything to say about the bedding material I give them!!


Peace
 
Tony Hawkins
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My shredded paper goes into the compost. It makes the compost look a little worse, as the ribbons of paper are obvious and visibly "not natural". I put wood chips down over compost once applied anyway so it's not really a concern.
 
Christopher Weeks
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I don't shred the plastic windows or anything glossy. But all the other stuff goes through the shredder and into my worm operation to cover the tablescraps, making them less accessible to airborne insects.
 
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I forgot to add in this morning's post that I do use the shredded papers in my outside compost bins.

I also place some of the shredded paper in the bottom of the one gallon bucket that I use in the kitchen for scraps.  It makes the clean up a little easier when I empty the bucket.

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No!  Do you want to eat glue and garbage?

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Douglas Alpenstock
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Samantha Lewis wrote:No!  Do you want to eat glue and garbage?


On the one hand, that's my gut response as well. It seems to be a witches' brew of materials, at least the stuff I see.

And yet, on the other hand, sending all of this dreck to a landfill just kicks the can down the road -- another methane bomb we will have to defuse.

I don't know if this qualifies as civil disobedience or rampant vandalism -- but up here people started to get pissed off with all the junk mail and started stuffing it back into random mailboxes along their normal routes of travel. I believe the message was received, since it clogged up the post office gear something terrible. And people suddenly were offered the option to "opt out" of the random crap. Torches and pitchforks, writ modern.
 
Samantha Lewis
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Douglas Alpenstock wrote:

Samantha Lewis wrote:No!  Do you want to eat glue and garbage?


On the one hand, that's my gut response as well. It seems to be a witches' brew of materials, at least the stuff I see.

And yet, on the other hand, sending all of this dreck to a landfill just kicks the can down the road -- another methane bomb we will have to defuse.


We have no idea what is in that paper.  We know it is a lot of glue and whatever waste materials were cheap and convenient.
For me, I would much rather put my paper trash in the landfill than in my garden or any living soil.
Where I live, I take my trash to the actual landfill.   There is a lot of nitrogen in that mix as evidenced by the fragrance.  So I am contributing this source of carbon.

Yes, it is a big pile/pit of toxic disgusting crap.  At least it is semi contained and all together in the one area.   It is probably leaking horrible nastiness into the air, ground water and the river.  Am I going to make that better by putting these poisons in my yard?

Some people like to burn the paper in a rocket mass heater.  

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randal cranor
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Howdy,

A lot of "paper" is now RAG paper, made from all kinds of RAGS, not natural fiber but polyester,rayon,nylon,etc and also plastic. Slick paper is rag paper, that's why it doesn't burn well when I/you use it to start fires in the stove/fireplace/outdoor fire ring. Hard to recycle, hard to stop in the mail, etc, so I put it in the PO(post office ) trash when I am in town.

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Riona Abhainn
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We're only shredding the regular paper with sensative info on it, the glossy stuff goes in the recycle bin as-is.  We unfortunately can't burn since we don't have that ability here at our second floor apartment, but my takeaway from y'all's responses is that yes its probably okay to compost our sensative mail shreddings, as a way of adding browns to the compost.

Thanks all.

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Douglas Alpenstock
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randal cranor wrote:A lot of "paper" is now RAG paper, made from all kinds of RAGS, not natural fiber but polyester,rayon,nylon,etc and also plastic. Slick paper is rag paper...


That fits with my observations. There is stuff that I won't even put into the recycling bin because it just clogs up the system with trash that's mostly plastic. I cut it with a sharp knife and there's no wood fibre in there. I think that's tragic, because it gets in the way of recycling good stuff that can be sold and pulped and reused as good paper.
 
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